Rugby HQ in Australia have put together their Top 5 list of the best ever magicians on the rugby field. While it's obviously subjective, it's a solid list and it would be tough to disagree with their top three selections, and number one in particular.

Starting at number five, Joe Rokocoko was a lethal finisher for the Blues and All Blacks. His dazzling feet and ability to beat defenders when in space made him a top try scorer. He could create tries out of half chances, as can be seen here. Sorry, Brent Russell.

Welsh legend Gareth Edwards is probably best known these days for that try he scored for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973, but for years he terrorised defences and to many up north in particular, is the best scrumhalf to ever play the game.

Having met the great David Campese recently, it's great to see him at three on this list. Campo could pull off the impossible, and is of course the man that made the goose-step so famous. His jinking runs and ball skills were unmatched in his generation.

"I always wanted to do something different. I could have stood on the wing and did nothing, or go out there and try and express yourself, and that's what I decided to do," he once said.

The only guy on the list still playing Test rugby, Quade Cooper is a natural fit when it comes to thinking of players that can do the seemingly impossible on the rugby field. Some of his best bits aren't shown in this clip, but you can see a few in the Related Posts below this article.

In the end, there can be only one and that man is without a doubt King Carlos Spencer. The only player who has come close since is Cooper, but for those of us who watched Spencer in his heyday, he will always be remembered as the most audacious, enthralling entertainer.

As with Cooper, have a browse of our Related Posts to see some of Spencer's best moments, which obviously weren't able to be featured in this compilation but are posted in our archive.

Other notable mentions, and players who could have squeezed into the top five somewhere, would be Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Williams, Christian Cullen and Waisale Serevi. O'Driscoll has already been featured in his own Top 5 video though, and Serevi was a Sevens star.

How different would your 'Top 5 Magicians' be, or are you happy with the choices?

Viewing 33 comments

O'Driscoll and Cullen should be in here instead of Rokocoko and Cooper, Roko was an outstanding winger but I wouldn't call him a magician on a level with Cullen and Cooper has had as many bloopers as he has had magic moments so BoD would be a shoe in for his spot (imho)
Serge Blanco would be my honorable mention.

without a doubt cooper should remain on that list. His incredible feet, his outrageous passes and his overall risk taking plays would easily keep him on the list. I would say the players on the list all deserve to be there however if all aspects of rugby were included then william ryder and benji marshall would feature with out a doubt.

Yes cooper is very good when he is on form. What makes him look great are the rediculous passes he tries. More often than not the passes mess up and he gives away possession. A truely great player knows when to throw the insane pass and when to leave it. A player like O'Driscoll. Cooper doesn't know when to leave the stupid pass and hold onto possession

Juan Martin Hernandez 'El Mago' should be included. Roko was a fantastic winger but hardly a guy who would create plays from nothing, Cooper is on the list quite rightly as he can do things that other players can only dream of, often goes too far but he is such a talent. In a couple of years Barrett will be up there as the most creative fly half in the world- MARK MY WORDS

King Carlos is a good call. I remember when he moved to Northampton, I was 15 and just starting to get into the flow of the full sized game... He is the reason I played. I remember practicing his reverse blind chip kick he did over his head when caught dead with the ball. And the through the legs to smoking joe. Joe Rokocoko's shimmy swivel step became my trademark. Got deservedly levelled a few times trying it also. Quade Cooper is one of those players who is so mercurially gifted that he can justify his arrogance. A fly half without a swagger is no fly half at all. Gareth Edwards as well... not the biggest but proof that brains outweigh brawn in broken play. Campese was the first of his 'breed' of winger, there have been a few since then, but he was the first of that sort, a solid mention. However, the other calls of Billy-Whizz/Shane Williams/BOD are also solid.

Random call on Geordan Murphy? He's bamboozled a few in his time with Leicester, sadly not so much for Ireland, but hey ho...

You twits saying BoD, Shane Williams, Jason Robinson and other northern hemisphere players aren't getting the recognition they deserve couldn't be any more wrong. This is a weekly show where those players are virtually praised on a weekly basis? You see a 5min snippet of a show and are quick to judge! Grow a brain you lot!!!!!